Adjustable reclining chair



, Oct. 23, 1956 w. A. FORRY 2,767,773

,1 ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed July 21, 1952 4 Sheet -Sheet 1 llll nu i Ill INVENTOR. flg WILLIAM A. FORE) BY wfi Arro R/vEx Oct. 23, 1956 w FQRRY ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed July 21, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WILL/A 1* INVENTOR. Wm) BY AM ATTORNE).

Oct. 23, 1956 w. A. FORRY ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 21, 1952 INVEN'TOR. W/LL/AMA.FORRY ATTORNEX Oct. 23, 1956 w. A. FORRY 2,767,773v

ADJUSTABLE RECLINING CHAIR Filed July 21, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR.

WILLIAM A. FQRR) ATTORNEY v United States Patent .0

ADJUSTABLE RECLININ G CHAIR William A. Forry, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Jacob Reuben, Highland Park, Ill.

Application July 21, 1952, Serial No. 300,097

6 Claims. (Cl. 155-106) This invention relates to an adjustable reclining chair and more particularly to a chair in which the back, seat and foot rest are interconnected by links to provide free and easy adjustment of the parts.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an adjustable reclining chair in which the weight of the person sitting thereon will cause the movable links to be locked in any desired adjusted position and'thereby main: tain the seat, back and foot rest in such adjusted position.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable chair which is held locked in adjustable position by the weight of the person seated thereon and which may be readily readjusted and locked while thus seated.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ad-' justable chair which is simple and economical to manufacture, which is positive in its action and which is adjustable to an infinite number of reclining positions.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side-elevational view of the reclining-chair in its fully upper position;

Figure 2 is a side-elevational view of same in its fully adjusted reclining position;

Figure 3 is a perspective View of'the operating parts of the chair,.with the framework of the chair shown in phantom lines;

Figure 4 is a front view of the chair taken on lines 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view taken on lines 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a side-elevational view, partly in cross section, of the position of the parts similar to that of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on 1ine:8:-'8 of Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Figure 7. V

The chair isformed of aframework comprising a pair of side members 10 and 12, spacedly joined together by a bottom cross member 14, a front cross member 16 and a rear cross member 18. The upper horizontal portions 19 of the side members form the arm rests for the chair. The side members each have an intermediate longitudinal support 20 to which the front cross member 16 is secured. The bottom cross member 14 and the rear cross member 18 are secured to the side members 10 and 12. The framework forms the support for the movable parts to be described.

The back and seat to be described are to be movable in various adjusted positions with respect to the framework and simultaneously the leg rest, which is pivoted to the front of the seat, likewise moves about its pivot to adjusted positions.

The back rest generally indicated at 22 is formed of a 2 sheet of material forming a surface 23, with two side walls 24 extending rearwardly thereof.

The link mechanism to be described, for operating the back, seat and leg support, is identical on each side, as best seen in Figure 3. Hence only one set of same will be described.

A bar 26 is permanently secured to the side wall 24 of the back member 22 as at 27. The forward end of the bar is bent outwardly and forwardly as best seen in Figures 3 and 5, and is pivotally secured to a pin 28 which: is mounted on the intermediate longitudinal support 20'of the side frame member. This is the only pivotal support between the. back member and the frame'or support.

The seat generally indicatedv at 30 is formed of a sheet of material forming a seat surface 31, two depending side Walls 32 and a front and rear depending wall 33and 34' respectively. A bar 36, similar to bar 26, is fixedly secured as at37 to the side wall 32 of the seat. The bar 36' extends rearwardly and outwardly. of the side of the seat and has a slot'38therein which engages the pin 28 whereby said seat is pivotally supported. This is the only pivotal connection between the seat and the frame; work or support. The bars 36 and 26 are adjacenteach other at their pivotal connection point 28. A spacing plate 29 is secured to the side wall of the seat between the sidewall and bar 36 as shown in Fig. 5.

Pivotally secured as at 40 to the side wall 24' of the back member 22 at the lower end thereof, below the seat, isa link member 42. Fixedly secured as at 44 to the lower end'of said link. 42 is a cam plate 46-whicli pivots with the link. The upper surface 47 of the cam plate is engaged by a shoe 48 which is fixedly secured to the rear wall 34 of the seat 30 as will be more'fully described later.

The upper end of link 42 is pivotally secured as at 50 to the intermediate portion of link 52. The lower end of link 52 is pivotally secured as at 54 to the front vertical portion of the side frames 10 and 12. A cross bar56 extends between and. is connected to the top of the links 52 and said cross-bar supports a cam shoe 58 adjacent the top of each link. Secured to the inside of side walls 32 of the seat 30 is a curved bar 60'serving as a cam which is engaged by the cam shoes58, as will be more fully described later.

The leg rest generally indicated at 62 has a flat surface 63 and rearwardly extending top and bottom walls 64 and65 and side Walls 66. Secured to the inside of the side Walls 66 of the leg rest as at 67 is a plate generally indicated at 68, which plate extends rearwardly of the leg rest andupwardly in an inverted L shape. The upper end of the. plate 68 is pivotally secured as at 69 to the forward end of the side walls 32 of'the seat 301 A shortlink 70has one end pivotally secured as at 71 to'the plate 68, the opposite end of link beingpivotally secured to thesame pivot as links 42 and 5 2.

In the'normal upright position of the chair the parts will be as shown in Figures 1, 3 and 7, with the leg rest 62 in a vertical position adjacent the front of the chair. When there is no weight on the seat 30 of the chair the curved bar 60 and shoe 48 on the seat will be in slight frictional contact with the cam shoe 58 and cam plate 46 so the movement of the links 42 and 52 will not be impeded and consequently the chair may be adjusted to any of its adjustable positions by tilting the back 22. Pivoting the back 22 rearwardly, as shown in Figure 2, will operate pivoted link 42, to move pivoted link 52 upwardly, to elevate the front of the seat, with link 70 moving forwardly to elevate the pivoted leg rest. The reverse will take place with the reverse or forward movement tilting of the back. The back, seat and leg rest are movable to either of the extreme positions shown in Figures 1 and 2 and to any intermediate position. The rear cross member 18 acts as a stop to limit the rearward tilting of the back which it engages as shown in Figure 2.

In any moved position of the parts, the seat, back and leg rest will be maintained in their moved positions as though positively locked by virtue of the weight of the person resting on the seat, which causes the seat to move downwardly with the curved bar 60 and cam shoe 48 frictionally engaging the cam shoe 58 and the cam surface 47 respectively to bind thereagainst and lock the links 42 and 52 from further movement until pressure has been released by relieving the weight on the seat. The slot 38 of the bar 36 allows the seat to be depressed. Adjustments may be accomplished even while the person is seated as by grasping the arm rests 19 and lifting the persons body upwardly slightly and at the same time bearing against the back of the chair to the desired position. This will be sufiicient to permit movement of the links, cams and shoes. However, merely lowering the persons weight on the seat again will lock the parts in their moved or adjusted position.

The frame, back, seat and leg rest may be upholstered or covered with suitable coverings, as desired.

It will be understood that various changes may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable reclining chair comprising a support, a back rest and seat pivotally secured to said support, a link member pivotally secured to said back rest adjacent the bottom thereof, said link having a cam plate which frictionally engages means on said seat, a second link pivotally secured to the front lower end of said support and pivotally secured to said first mentioned link, said second link having means carried thereby frictionally engaging means on said seat, both said frictional means on said seat adapted when weight is applied to said seat, to frictionally lock said links against pivotal movement and thereby lock said seat and back in adjusted position.

2. An adjustable reclining chair comprising a support, a back rest and seat pivotally secured to said support, a leg rest pivotally secured to the seat, a link member pivotally secured to the lower end of said back rest, another link member pivotally secured to the front of said support and pivotally connected to said first link, a third link member pivotally secured to said first two mentioned links and to said pivotal leg rest, means carried by said first two mentioned link members frictionally engaging the seat, said links adapted to be readily operated to simultaneously move said back, seat and leg rest to adjusted positions and to be locked against pivotal movement when weight is applied to said seat.

3. An adjustable reclining chair comprising a support, a back rest and seat pivotally secured to said support, a link member pivotally secured to the lower end of said back rest, said link having a cam plate secured thereto and movable therewith, a second link pivotally secured to the front of said support and pivotally connected to said first mentioned link, means secured to said second link frictionally engaging said seat, to guide the travel of said seat, said cam plate also frictionally engaging said seat, said first mentioned friction means and said cam plate adapted to lock said link members against pivotal movement when weight is applied to said seat to thereby lock said seat and back members against movement.

4. An adjustable reclining chair comprising a support, a back rest and seat pivotally secured to said support, a link member pivotally secured to the lower end of said back rest below said seat, a plate secured to said link, said plate having frictional contact with said seat, a second link pivotally secured to said support at the front of said support and pivotally secured to said first link intermediate the ends of said second link, said second link frictionally engaging said seat at a point removed from said first frictional contact, said chair being so constructed and arranged that with weight on said seat said plate and said second link will be frictionally engaged by said seat to prevent pivotal movement of said links and thereby maintain said seat and back members in adjusted position.

5. An adjustable reclining chair comprising a support, a back member and a seat pivotally secured to said support, said seat having frictional engaging means thereon, a link member pivotally secured to the lower end of said back member, said link having means engaging said seat frictional means, a second link pivotally secured to said support and pivotally secured to said first mentioned link, said second link having means for frictionally engaging the frictional means on said seat, said chair being so constructed and arranged that when Weight is applied to said seat the links will be locked against pivotal movement and thereby maintain said seat and back members in adjusted position.

6. An adjustable reclining chair comprising a support, a back rest and seat pivotally secured to said support, a foot rest pivotally secured to the front of said seat, said seat having frictional means carried thereby, a link member pivotally secured to the lower end of said back rest and having a frictional engaging member engaging said seat frictional means on said seat, a second link pivotally secured to the front of said support and to said first mentioned link, said second link having a frictional engaging member carried thereby having frictional contact with said seat frictional means, a third link pivotally secured at one end to said first mentioned links with the opposite end of said third link pivotally secured to said foot rest, said chair being so constructed and arranged that the pivotal movement of said links will cause simultaneous adjustment of said seat, back and foot rest.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 628,983 Jones July 18, 1899 1,028,548 Cromer June 4, 1912 2,578,708 Lorenz Dec. 18, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 152,523 Great Britain Oct. 21, 1920 

